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AMENDMENT 4 RECOUNT - Mitch Perry

Of the 8 Constitutional Amendment placed on the Florida Ballot earlier this month, the vote on Amendment 4- which would allow Miami/Dade and Broward Counties to vote on allowing for more gambling, was by far the closest.

The measure narrowly won Ã¢â¬â but the opponents say that there were statistical anomalies that make them question the final result, and today they announced a lawsuit against the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, demanding a rccount of all the absentee ballots.

Randy Johnson is the chairman of No Casinos!, the coalition organized against Amendment 4.

On a statewide teleconference, Johnson said that at the end of the night on Election Night, Amendment 4 was WINNING by approximately a thousand votes, but 2 days later, the vote had changed dramatically Ã¢â¬Â¦(roll tape#1 o.q.Ã¢â¬?.state canvassing board hearingÃ¢â¬?)

Representative Johnson and other members of NoCasino also say that the discovery of the approximately 78,000 absentee ballots in Broward County were then separated strictly as to whether they supported or voted against Amendment 4Ã¢â¬Â¦.And he says that those Ã¢â¬Ënewly discoveredÃ¢â¬â¢ absentee ballots were disproportionately FOR Amentment 4, with 94 percent saying Yes on Amendent 4, whereas only 64% of the County was in support of the measure. (roll tape#2 o.q.Ã¢â¬?itÃ¢â¬â¢s very unusual Ã¢â¬Å)

The lawsuit says that the new results allowed Amendment 4 to pass by a statewide margin of approximately 67,000 votes, avoiding a mandatory recount. The suit alleges that the number of votes in question in Broward exceeds the number of votes by which Amendment 4 passedÃ¢â¬Â¦..However, the State Division of Elections website reports that the measure passed by a total of over 129,000 votesÃ¢â¬Â¦

Heather Veleanu is the Managing Director of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, based in Broward County, and is listed as the Plaintiff in the lawsuit. (roll tape#3o.q.Ã¢â¬?be orderedÃ¢â¬?)

No CasinoÃ¢â¬â¢s Randy Johnson says the simplest and most logical way to ensure an accurate vote tally on Amendment 4 is to recount the absentee ballots in Broward Ã¢â¬â but that has not been done, and they say the count remains in question.(roll tape#4 o.qÃ¢â¬?the vote totalsÃ¢â¬?)

A call to the Broward County Supervisor of Election office was not returned to WMNF by airtime.